Tokyo Ghoul: Lelouch of the Reincarnation
by DivineDemonDragon
Summary: 2110 a.t.b.: Ghouls, known as 'the Demons children', are humanitiy's current foe, and natural predator. What happens when one unlikely, tragic protagonist slowly regains the powers and memories of a past life? And more importantly - can he find and reconcile with those whom he'd previously wronged? (Rated M due to gore and language) I don't own Code Geass or Tokyo Ghoul.
1. The demon reborn

**AN: Konnichiwa, I'd like to introduce you to my third fanfic and first crossover, **_**Tokyo Ghoul: Lelouch of the Reincarnation.**_** I will be retelling the story of Kaneki Ken with the twist of reincarnating the cast of **_**Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion**_**. Of course, by the time we get to **_**Tokyo Ghoul Re:**_**'s timeline, we'll be getting off of the canon train. I hope you enjoy!**

**AN(Edit): Note that I'll include a larger list of reincarnated characters than what Ken thinks of. If you'd like to, try and guess who has become who. Hint: Character resemblance is **_**not**_** the main indicator. **

The demon reborn

As Kaneki Ken laid in the construction site of a back alley, he thought about how terrible the day had been. It'd started out well enough – until his date revealed herself to be a man-eating ghoul. Now he had a hole in his stomach, and his neck, both caused by Rize-san, and she was currently sauntering over to finish him off. And he was starting to lose consciousness. Great.

Suddenly, Ken felt a hand grab his own from behind the steel beam he was leaning on. The next thing he knew, he was in an illusionary space, though how he knew that was beyond him. Just like the reason for the familiarity of all of these pictures and images that were passing by him. He then heard an equally familiar female voice.

"Well, this is a surprise," she said, "to think I would see you again, my warlock." 'Warlock? What is she talking about?' "You don't seem to remember – yet. But you will. I propose a deal."

Only now did Kaneki realize that she was speaking in Britannian. Again, he didn't know how he suddenly knew that nor how he understood what she was saying.

"In exchange for your power, you will find those whom you wronged in your previous life and pay penance for your sins." 'Sins? Previous-' Suddenly, several images flashed through his mind, these being familiar almost to the point where he could say that they were – memories.

They were people, he realized.

A wavy brown-headed, green-eyed Japanese boy his age with a look of regret. _Suzaku..._

A slightly younger Britannian girl with bright, pink hair, violet eyes, and a warm smile – who was suddenly splattered with blood. _Euphie._..

A younger, small, frail-looking Britannian boy with pale-purple eyes and a small smile, his clouded eyes betraying his imminent death. _Rolo._..

A Britannian woman with a stern, yet somehow sad, and kind look, purple hair and eyes the same color as her sister. _Cornelia._..

A Britannian girl his age with bright, orange hair and yellow-green eyes, bleeding to death in his arms yet still smiling at him. _Shirley..._

A teal-blue-eyed Britannian-looking girl, who was also his age, with spiked, maroon-red hair, who looked at him in hurt, and betrayal, as though he had rejected her. _Kallen._..

And finally, a younger Britannian girl with sand-brown, wavy hair and lilac eyes, sitting over him, and crying for him, saying how much she loved her brother. _Nunnaly_...

"Accept this contract, and you accept it's conditions. You shall once again live amongst mortals, yet be unlike any other. The power of the king will seek to condemn you to a live of solitude. Are you prepared for this?"

Ken saw another person, this one clearly more familiar than the rest. It was a Britannian youth of his age: tall, lean, with long ebony hair and eyes of royal purple. His entire bearing, in fact, exuded authority the likes of which only a king, _or an emperor_, could command.

If these were people he'd wronged at some point, then he has to fix things. "Yes, I... accept your contract."

As Ken returned to reality, he heard a loud, metallic crash. Looking up, the last thing he heard was the woman from earlier saying something before oblivion took him.

As Ken swam in the depths of his own mind, he could hear voices, speaking of organs, a procedure, consent and responsibility. He wondered what was going on. Suddenly, it felt like someone was embracing him from behind, covering his eyes.

The blue waters he swam in became tinged with red. Then, however, _another_ pair of hands cupped his cheeks, pulling him away from whoever owned the first pair. He felt a surging energy in his left eye, as the waters now included pitch black smog with purple linings.

Unconsciously, his left eye opened wide, the sclera was as ebony, his iris the scarlet of blood – and in that same iris, a dark, crimson sigil, like a bird in flight, flared sinisterly.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

_2030 a.t.b.: The UFN Council has announced the existence of the 'demonic cannibal predators', a.k.a.[predator species] " __**ghouls**__". Known as 'the Demon's children' in slang, ghouls became a viable threat after the death of Lelouch vi Britannia at the hands of Zero. Knightmare frames are now being reformatted to combat this new threat, as these beings, though human in appearance, are at average 5-6 times tougher (most body areas prove immune to anti-infantry bullets and swords), stronger and faster than the average man. In addition, it's been discovered that they regenerate wounds, have far greater senses of sight, smell and hearing – and possess a diet exclusively of humans. The Rc-cell (Red child), is discovered, in proportionally larger amounts in ghouls than in humans (again, 1:5-1:6 ratio)._

_ 2035 a.t.b.: The UFN has discussed the creation of an anti-ghoul force. Researchers have discovered an additional organ to the anatomy of ghouls REDACTED{which is almost identical to that of a human}REDACTED: the 'shining sac' kakuhou. From this organ, ghouls can create an additional, predatory limb called 'kagune', of which there are four known types, the type of kagune is determined by the position of the kakuhou._

_ 2040 a.t.b.: UFN Council declares each member-country autonomously responsible for their population of ghouls. Various former members of the EU establish anti-ghoul forces, which by UFN decree, are to keep in contact internationally. The first Kakuja, an evolved ghoul with kagune armor, has been sighted._

_ 2060 a.t.b.: the CCG [Commission of Counter Ghoul] is founded in the United States of Japan, similar institutions are founded in former members of the Chinese Federation. The Sakuradite ore in Mt. Fuji has been exhausted. The ranking system for ghouls is established world-wide, ranging from D to S, currently. Shneizal el Britannia passes away._

_ 2080 a.t.b.: Empress Nunnally vi Britannia, a.k.a. the 'White Empress', passes away. The last Knightmare frame has been scrapped. CCG researchers invent the Quinque metal, forged from deceased ghouls kagune. The 101st Emperor, son of Cornelia li Britannia, declares the founding of the AGB [American Ghoul-Busters]. Zero disappears. The ranking SS is added to the system. The UFN declares ghouls an international priority threat._

_ 2100 a.t.b.: the One-Eyed Owl makes his appearance in Japan, and is the first ghoul worldwide to be assigned the threat ranking of SSS._

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Kaneki Ken woke up, breathing heavily. He'd just dreamed of being stabbed by the legendary Zero. Before that, he'd dreamt of a really messed up night with a ghoul woman and a contract of some sort. What that contract was, he could no longer remember.

Looking around, he found himself in a hospital room. From that, he safely assumed that the date, at least, was _not_ a dream. 'So Rize-san... really was... a ghoul...' If he was in the hospital, he assumed, then he'd been rescued, and Rize was dead.

Ken frowned. 'Since when could I think that fast?' Sure, he was a student at a high-level university. And a graduate from Ashford High School with top grades. But this was unusual for him.

At that moment, a doctor stepped in. His name-plaque read 'A. Kanou'. "Oh," said doctor Kanou, looking at Ken with surprise, "are you already up? I'd expected the narcosis to work longer. {chuckle} Good thing you didn't wake up during surgery." He smiled at Ken, who would've been glad to see a friendly face – if something in the back of his mind weren't telling to _not trust him by a foot_. For some reason, the doctor's smile brought an image of a blond, pale-violet-eyed man, whose features screamed 'prince(!)', with a simil- no, the _same_ smile.

"S-surgery?" "Oh right, you weren't awake for it." The doctor seated himself next to Ken's bed. "You see, your kidney was punctured, basically ruined. So I took the kidney of the girl who died next to you to save you."

"Girl?" "Why yes, there was a young woman of your age, buried under a mound of construction bars." 'Was that Rize? I guess even a ghoul can get crushed to death. Wait-' "You gave me her kidney?" Dr. Kanou acted (for some reason, Ken could tell) surprised. "Of course – between a definitely dying patient and a probably dying one, which would you choose to save?" "The probably... eh?"

Strange. Usually, Ken would want to find a way to save both. So where did that answer come from?

The doctor seemed pleasantly surprised at his response. "Indeed. So I used the dying patient to save the possibly living one."

Ken thought over his next words carefully. "... Can I expect any... side effects?" He was pretty certain that having a ghoul's organs in one's body _wouldn't not_ induce any. "No, not that I think of." 'Liar.' Somehow, Ken has become a lie-detector. That thought was unsettling.

"When is the earliest that I can be released?" "So eager to break out, eh?" "N-No, it's just... my friend is waiting for me." "Nothing else?" Ken grabbed his chin left-handedly. "No, though I do have to keep my apartment in order." "Well then..."

During his stay at the hospital, Ken discovered the first side-effect – he can't taste food properly. In fact, everything tasted so horrible that he got the urge to hurl at every chew.

His friend, Hide, came to visit every day. But after the first visit, Ken pretended to sleep. He felt sorry for his friend, but he was scared of what he himself might have become.

After his release, before even going home, Ken made it half-way to the library before he remembered he had left his library card at his apartment. Upon coming in, he decided to give _everything_ in his refrigerator and cupboards a taste-testing. Just about nothing worked – even his beloved hamburger steak had become inedible for him. That is, until he tried the coffee powder. He discovered to his relief that it was still as bitter as he remembered it. Though using it to gloss over the taste of other foods proved useless. He caught his toe on the sharp edge of a door-frame – but there was no pain. He hardly even noticed it, in fact, there was a dent in the spot where he tripped over.

Ken poured himself a cup of black coffee, and took his time to enjoy it. 'Reminds me of that one book I read... by Kafka... it was about a man that turned into this huge, hideous insect-like monster. And the only thing he could eat was rotten cheese.' He chuckled. 'Looks like coffee is my cheese.'

Still, the coffee proved unable to satisfy the growing hunger in his abdomen. So he set out for the library, as originally intended. On the way there, he passed by a shop. A certain article caught his eye, and before he knew it, Ken was the owner of a brand new chess-set.

After arriving at the library, Ken went to start his research – only to run into Hide. "Kaneki!" he exclaimed. "There you are! And you're even awake!" "Y-yeah, sorry about that," the scrawny young man replied, scratching his chin. "What are you doing here?" "Well... I was going to look up ghouls. They've been around for awhile – surly, there's _something_ I can find on them."

"Well in that case, why don't you try this!" Hide held up a book titled **Ogura Kube's New Book of Ghoul Dismantling**. Ken had a doubtful look, but if he thought about it, CCG wouldn't want the public to have access to in-depth knowledge about ghouls – whether to protect the public or themselves, he wasn't sure.

Again, Ken paused because of the turn his thoughts had taken. He used to be indifferent about political policies, since they didn't concern him, personally – until he remembered that, if his fears were confirmed, then they would soon concern him very much. Still, why would hiding knowledge about ghouls protect the CCG? From what?

"Alright, thanks," he said before an idea popped into his head, "Hey Hide." "Hm?" "How about you help me pass the time while I read this?" "? How?" His friend put on a confused look so comical, it made Ken think of a blue-haired Britannian. '? Strange...' He pulled out his new chess-set.

The look on Hide's face was priceless. "Since when were you interested in that sort of thing?!" "Shh!" "{whispering} Sorry!" "{whispering} Honestly, I'm a little surprised myself. I just saw it and was like: 'I've _got_ to have that!'" Hide just shook his head with a bemused expression. "Alright, fine. Which side are you?" "Black." "Of course. You _never_ make the first move! In fact, wasn't Rize-san the one who asked you out?" Ken stayed silent.

"... Oh," his friend said sheepishly, "sorry, I forgot-" "It's okay. Let's play." "? I thought you were gonna read?" "I'll play while reading." "What are you, a multitasker?!"

Sure enough, reading the book ended Ken with 1 loss, 3 draws and 4 wins, in that order. Not only did he find that he had an unknown penchant for strategy, he was able to confirm the worst case scenario – thanks to having Rize-san's organs, he's become similar to a ghoul. He cannot eat normal food, his skin was way too tough, and he noticed that the people around him smell nice – in a way that creeps him out. _'They smell yummy...'_

He parted ways with Hide after promising to show up at university, and began to roam around the city, trying to ignore the nice smells around him. 'If only I could get help from a ghoul-group or something... actually, would they even help me, knowing I was human.' Putting his hood up, Ken decided to play safe and just find a group and observe them secretly, if possible.

At that moment, he came upon Anteiku, the coffee shop that he, Hide and Rize-san frequently attended. 'Hm? If Rize-san came here with no fear of getting caught... actually, their service would perfectly cover human and ghoul customers alike!' Ken went around the building, hoping to find the backdoor.

Well, he found it – among other things.

There were two people in front of him. One was the cute waitress that Hide pointed out once, – Kirishima... Touka, wasn't it? – who was being harassed by a drunk, middle-aged man. Nothing serious, he just wouldn't shut up and leave her alone. Looking at the girl, Ken suddenly saw someone else in her place – a red-haired Britannian girl, whose straight(?) hair sat in a bob, with the expression of a sheltered, sickly noble. Her blue eyes, however, clearly showed her irritation for those who knew what to look for, just like the waitress' eyes – also blue, but with a violet tint – showed as the image faded from his mind. 'Okay, now that's weird.'

Ken decided to help the girl, if only to save the old man the trouble of getting slapped, or outright punched. Unfortunately, when he tapped the man's shoulder, it didn't quite go according to plan.

"Huh? Whaddya wannt?" The man turned his way.

"Um..." "Shpeak up already, ya damned, {hic} brat! Wait..." he peered at Ken's face.

"The hell'sh wis your eye? You look like a..." As the man's eyes widened in fear, Ken knew he screwed up, looking in the glass window of the shop to his right – his left eye had charcoal-black sclera, and a scarlet iris.

Turning back to the man, he realized that he had to do something, anything, before things got out of hand. Looking him in the eye, Ken blurted out: "{Be quiet, forget about this and go home, please!}" He felt his left eye heat up a little, for a moment, and then –

{"...Alright, alright... damn brat..."} Ken could only stare bewildered at what just happened, as the man went on his way. Feeling some one's eyes, he looked back to find the waitress gaping at him slightly.

Looks like he _really_ caught her off guard there, because the first thing she said was: "What... the fuck just..." Once again, Ken saw the red-headed Britannian in her place, with several differences: Her hair was spiked up in the back, though two long strands framed her face, and her facial expression was that of a hot-headed and feisty rebel. Also, as Ken realized, her blue eyes had an Asian quality to them that he'd missed the first time.

"I-I don't know..." he stuttered, looking to the left. "Hm?" From the corner of his eye, he saw Touka come and take a closer look at his face, before her eyes widened in surprise. "Wha-! Aren't you the guy that Rize was gonna-" Upon the mention of Rize, Ken turned to look her in the eye – only to curse his own stupidity as Touka stared at his left eye, which – as far as Ken could tell – was still... active? That sounded about right...

"One kakugan... what..." by this point, Touka seemed outright speechless, if her jaw-slacked face was any indication. Ken took a moment to think out his words, then he looked her square in the eyes and asked: "M-may I... speak with the manager? I n-need some," he slightly made a face, "f-food."

**AN(Edit): And that's my the first full chapter of **_**TG: Lelouch of the Reincarnation**_**. I haven't decided if I should reincarnate Ohgi and Viletta, I will set up a poll for that. This story was inspired by Demon's Anarchy of Pride's **_**Requiem for a Demon**_**. I hope you enjoyed this, see you later. **

**PS: Please review.**


	2. The demon stirs

**AN: I would like to note that not every TG character will be a reincarnation, and that not every CG character will be reincarnated. In accordance with the poll, Ohgi and Villeta will *not* make an appearance, which frankly will make things simpler.**

**Akuma-Heika: I'm calling them Demon's Children using the dub-version of Lelouch's title as a tyrannical emperor, 'Lelouch the Demon' (as by Cornelia), which was Maou in japanese, lit. 'demon king'. **

**I'm sorry if it wasn't clear, but what the readers see is the **_**uncensored**_** version of that script. The words between the two REDACTED are censored out since V, and therefore CCG, doesn't want peace between humans and ghouls to be even remotely possible.**

**The title is an allusion to Schneizel, since the way he portrayed himself to the public is, in fact, the sort of person that Nunnally**_** actually is**_**.**

**Is it unbelievable for Suzaku to live that long before dying? Because that's who Zero was up until then, and since he was already 'dead', he couldn't afford to have his body found, for the sake of the Requiem.**

**TrunksIzayaBossKadoDRRRotaku: I can see where your conclusions come from, you have 3 correct guesses, incl. Lelouch; Two of your guesses are almost correct, just need to swap who becomes who; otherwise, no, although I hadn't thought of that idea with Charles – that **_**would**_** be funny! Instead, I have something poetic planned for him and Marriane. I'll be the first to admit that Viletta wasn't my favorite character, and Ohgi lost points with me for choosing her over Lelouch.**

**Without further ado – on to the story!**

**The demon stirs  
**

Touka Kirishima's seen some pretty sick stuff in her life. Cannibalism, ghoul-kids cut down by CCG, that Gourmet guy; but a human who was _supposed_ to have been eaten by a fellow ghoul, only to come back _alive_, smelling like said ghoul and acting like one of those weaker guys who couldn't hunt properly – now that's just wrong. After leading him into the shop via the side-door, she gave him a discreet one-over.

This guy – Kaneki Ken, if she recalled correctly – was timid, scrawny and just plain pathetic, at least, that was her impression since the first time he set foot in the shop. For whatever reason, she'd avoided taking his order as much as possible, until his obnoxious friend called her over. She left the university student in the workers' changing room and went upstairs to find the manager, Yoshimura.

She couldn't help but wonder about his circumstance. And how did he know about the manager? She found it hard to believe that he figured it out just now, though something inside of her said it wouldn't be surprised. When she found the manager, she explained to him who was waiting for him in the shop and was asked to lead him to Ken.

As they entered the room, Ken looked up at Touka first before shifting his gaze to the manager.

"Kaneki Ken-kun, I presume." The manager was polite and patient, as always.

"H-hai." Ken on the other hand was visibly nervous, but slightly determined.

"I understand you are in need of Anteiku's assistence."

"W-well, yes... f-food," again, he made a face.

"You used to be human." "Y-yes." "And Rize-san?" What? Sure, she went missing, and this guy's still ali- "D-dead, sir. I'm sorry."

Touka couldn't help but look at him bewildered. Dead? And he's apologizing for it, too? She tried to kill him! To eat him!

"Why do you say that?"

"I, was given her organs." Touka's eyes widened at that, and even Yoshimura allowed his kakugan to be shown. "Woah, wait!" The males turned her way, "What do you mean her organs!?" "More importantly, _which_ organs?" Yoshimura stated. Touka realized what he was getting at. She was fairly good at biology, and was aware that ghouls share all of a human's organs and body structure – except one.

"The, uh, kidneys, supposedly." Heh. So she died saving him? Oh, the irony. Touka looked at the older boy, and saw wariness in his eyes. She'd know.

"You don't sound too sure. Why's that?" she challenged.

Ken looked her in the eye, making her shiver involuntarily. "I think the doctor lied to me."

Yoshimura's eyes were hidden again, his expression grim. "I'll be blunt with you Kaneki-kun. What you received from Rize-san was likely indeed not a kidney – but a kakuhou, an exclusively ghoul organ of similar shape and color."

Aw shit. That means he's got Rize's kagune too. No wonder he smells like that gluttonous bitch.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

_"{English} Oh, where, oh where has my Lu-lu gone? Oh where, oh where can he be~? With his hair, cut short and his frame, cut long. Oh where, oh where can he be~? ./~" _

_"Oi. How long's she been singin' that, Tatara?"_

_"Longer than I've been a member here, I think, boy."_

_"So she ain't gonna stop soon?"_

_"I think not."_

_"Fuck"_

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Touka scrubbed the coffee table with the same vigor one would apply when smashing cockroaches. It showed how she felt about her charge, the new part-timer Ken. She thought back to how the manager proposed the idea to the boy, who hesitantly accepted, and was promptly put under Touka's charge.

Yes, that annoyed her, but that wasn't actually the main reason she was mad at him.

Most of her felt that he was taking this whole 'I'm a man-eating monster who could kill my friends now' too easily.

_Something_ inside of her was surprised he wasn't taking it _better_. The fuck?!

She had watched him eat his first morsel of human meat. What confused her the most was that he looked just as surprised at how easily he ate something he had just been days ago.

Not only was he taking to being a monster well, he didn't even know _why_ he was?

She looked back at the counter where Ken was washing the dishes. They were finishing up for the day, and she had an outing planned with Yoriko in an hour. Not shopping, god forbid, just hanging out as friends.

"You about done there, newbie?" she asked with an unexplainable glee at being able to talk down to him as a superior. He seemed unexpectedly annoyed with that, but still answered with a meek: "Hai, just a moment. What about you?"

She huffed, setting down the washrag. "Are you blind? I'm long done."

"Ah, is that so?" She rose a brow. Where was this cockiness coming from? Even he seemed taken aback by it. "S-sorry."

"Hrmpf. Don't bother. You need guts to survive if you're gonna be one of us." She gauged his reaction as he answered, noting his complicated face. 'He's not completely okay with it, but more than he should be.'

"S-say, Kirishima-san,"

Hm?

"You wanna, uh, play something, to, you know, pass time?"

She humored him by showing her attention. He signaled her to wait, and went to the dressing-room. When he came back, the item in his hands made her brows shoot up.

"Chess?" It was one of the few Britannian games that became popular after the UFN vs. Britannia War, mostly due to being similar to shogi.

"Yeah. I only just started, but I don't seem to be too bad," he chuckled nervously, rubbing his head.

For reasons she couldn't fathom, the same part of her that seemed so familiar with Ken's unusual behavior was almost _begging_ her to refuse. Not that she'd listen.

Kirishima Touka never backs down from a fight.

After ten minutes, she was flabbergasted. Ten minutes more and she was still irritant and confused. By the half of an hour, she was fuming.

'How the FUCK is that little shit doing that!?' she thought, trying to ignore the part of her that she decided to dub 'fan-girl(ish)', because nothing else fit and it seemed utterly convinced of Kaneki's (near) infallibility.

No matter what she did, or tried, she couldn't beat the guy. Hell, the first game ended in ten moves, where he trapped her king behind her own troops. Even switching colors didn't help.

Touka had to hand it to him, and her fan-girl(ish) part: The guy knew his way around this game, and Touka was no slouch in it. Yet she never made it past twenty moves, not to mention a draw or a win.

"Argh! Enough!" she gave up, "Are you sure you're a beginner? Could've fuckin' fooled me!"

She saw him staring at the board as though he was just as confused at how easily he pwned her.

"Wow, I've never seen someone win chess in so few moves!" They spun around to the speaker, who turned out to be Yoriko.

"Yoriko! What are you doing here?!"

"I got here early, and I saw you with your friend here."

Touka huffed, while Ken scratched his cheek in slight embarrassment. Touka didn't realize her failure to refute the last part.

"But, why do you use the king like that?" The ghoul found that to be an apt question, as the male had the weird tendency to use his king for some unconventional strategies.

"H-honestly, I don't know. It just doesn't, no, maybe not."

"What?" Touka was quite curious now.

"It seems, well, wrong to leave the king someplace safe while his men go out to die," finding himself embarrassing, Ken stopped talking.

In Touka's head, the fan-girl(ish) part translated that as: "If the king doesn't lead, why should his men follow?"

She only noticed that she said it out loud when she found the other two staring at her.

Flushing, she brusquely asked: "What?!"

"No, no, it's just, now that you say it," replied Ken, "I agree with that."

Turning to Yoriko for assistance/confirmation, they saw her nodding enthusiastically.

Sighing, Touka stood up.

"We're done here. Yoriko, I'll be outside soon, what a minute, okay?"

"Alright, Touka-chan!"

"And you," Ken gulped, making her smirk, "go home."

"Eh?"

"Oh, what? You thought I'd hand you extra time? For what, you haven't done anything..."

"Why am I hearing a 'yet' at the end of that?"

She waved that off, "You're imagining things."

"That'd be more convincing if you weren't smirking like that."

"Argh, fuck off already!"

And with a sharp salute, he did.

She blinked. That salute was rather unusual. Why did it remind her of the USJ military? And history class? Ugh, she _so_ didn't need that!

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

"So, why am I here again?" Ken asked Hide as they walked down one of Kamii University's hallways the next day.

"I need to get back a CD that Nishio-senpai borrowed from me," replied his friend, "and you're here cause you need more exercise."

Ken bit back a groan. While far from an exercise-nut, lately he's felt like avoiding it like the plague.

'Great, more abnormalities,' he thought.

When they approached a closed door, Ken thought he heard something on the other side, something like...

"Wait, Hide!"

Too late, his friend opened the door without a care in the world. Judging from the scream and the half-naked girl running out, Ken guessed that their senpai had been about to reach 'base 2'.

The thought made him blush.

"Sheesh, did no one ever teach you to knock, Nagachika?"

Ken beheld a bespectacled man with messy orange-brown hair that made him think of a snake.

His first impression was that he needed to be careful around this person.

"Well, sorry if I didn't know you were busy with your girl!"

"No, it's something called common courtesy, Hide," refuted the half-ghoul.

Their senpai sized him up: "Who's this, your friend?"

"Yep, this is Kaneki Ken!" declared Hide smiling.

Politely, Ken offered his hand.

"Nice to meet you."

"Nishio Nishiki, same here," replied the other, accepting the hand.

"Wow, Kaneki didn't stutter? It's a miracle!"

Ken failed to retort, because he noticed something about Nishiki's smell. Unlike most people, who smell 'sweet', this man smelled 'sour'.

Much like Touka did.

'A ghoul,' Ken realised.

Nishiki raised a brow at Hide's comment, but said nothing about it.

Instead, he asked: "So, Nagichika, why are you here?"

"The CD, man! Or do you still need it?"

"Hide, you're being rude!"

"Ah, that. Where was that again," somehow, Nishiki's searching didn't seem sincere to Ken.

As they searched the room, their senpai seemed to have a thought: "I must've left it at home."

He turned to Hide. "You wanna come with? Then I can just hand it to you."

Ken felt his instincts yelling for him to go with. And as much as he wanted to try and trust this guy, he figured it couldn't hurt to make sure.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Touka was on her way home, her head still spinning from Yoriko's many questions that she kept asking about Ken starting yesterday. You'd almost think that the aspiring baker was trying to set them up.

Pheh.

Not only is that guy a bookworm, but, however smart he may be, he's extremely annoying. That's two strikes against him.

Even worse, her 'fangirl(ish)' part was more flustered than annoyed at the thought.

The hell!?

Looking around, Touka found that, indeed, speak of the devil and he shall appear.

Worse, his annoying friend was with him.

_Even worse_, shitty Nishiki was with them, too.

She would've just gone on, but then she got a call from Kaya Irimi.

"Yes, Irimi-san? Huh? What am I, his babysitter?...Alright, he just walked past me. No, I probably shouldn't, he's with his friend. Yes, yes. See ya."

_As his sempai, please look after him. _Seriously?

Normally, she'd have left it at that, he wasn't starving or anything.

...*eye twitch*

Alright fine!

She'll go watch him, if only to shut up that annoying inner 'fangirl'!

A crash up ahead caught her attention, and she saw Nishiki's leg streched out before Ken, _and Ken's friend missing._

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

"GWOOOOOOOOOHHHH!"

_The strong eat the weak? The Strong eat the Weak?! THE STRONG EAT THE WEAK?!_

_hiswordshiswordshiswordshiswordsHiswordsHiswordsHiswordsHiswordsHiswordsHiswordsHiswordsHiswordsHiswordsHiswordsHiswordsHisWordsHisWordsHisWordsHisWordsHisWordsHisWordsHisWordsHisWordsHisWordsHisWordsHISWORDSHISWORDSHISWORDSHISWORDSHISWORDSHISWORDSHISWORDSHISWORDS –_

_hUrt my fRienD, will you; EAt him, you saiD!?_

_If you fucking love to eat so much – __**I'LL FUCKING EAT YOU BACK!**_

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Touka could only stare at the scene before her, straight out of a horror movie.

Without the cheesy effects.

Was that even Ken?

As expected, he was a rinkaku.

Unexpectedly, it wasn't Rize's kagune.

Sure, there were four long and thin tendrils sprouting from his lower back.

But Rize's had been smooth, and red.

_Not black-purple and serrated._

Even her 'fangirl' part kept quiet, though whether out of shared shock at the scene or in somber pity for Nishiki she couldn't tell.

As experienced as the older ghoul was, Ken(?) seemed able to predict his every move, disallowing the evasion of those deadly limbs. And once both of Nishiki's arms and legs were pierced, the multitudes of teeth holding them in place, Ken(?) hefted his prey slightly before slamming him on the ground, face-up.

"What...the fuck...?" the older ghoul groaned. Touka couldn't have put it better.

"_That's right,_"

The fuck!? Why's he speaking in English?!

"_you're a ghoul... aren't you?_"

From where she stood, Touka could have sworn she saw his single kakugan _glowing_.

"_So you should know,_"

Not only that, but his mannerism... his speech...

"_the only ones who should hunt,_"

Slowly, Ken-but-definitely-not-Ken made his way to his prey, still pinned to the ground.

"_are those prepared to be hunted!_"

"Stop!"

**R&amp;R, please!**

**Edit: Changed MC's new quote, Ghouls have to eat people, but they can live off of (relatively fresh) corpses, they souldn't _have_ to kill. Unless neccessary.**


	3. The demon ponders

**AN: Okay, so Lelouch=Ken is more or less a given, since I basically gave that one, and Kallen, away in the summary. Note, however, that the way they are influencing their current selves is very much like them.**

**makesomehassel: It's not like I'm **_**stopping**_** the story, it's just slow going. I'll have phases where I get a lot written down at once, like the moment I wrote this answer, but there are also days where I don't even touch my stories cause I don't know how to continue. I know what picture I'm trying to paint, but I don't know where to put the brushstrokes, or something like that.**

**Death of Snipers: You're wrong about who's-who, but the characters you mentioned are all part it. As for Lelouch, not much for now, thx 2 Touka, but later on we'll be seeing him make his comeback. As for Geass, Ken doesn't even really know he has it, so it's not gonna see too much use for the next two-three arcs. As for the quote, yes, I modified it to better suit this world, everyone kills here, as Ken is going to find out, but by 'hunting' I mean those that needlessly hunt down others, e.g. CCG and Aogiri.**

**Guest: Aye, that she be. (background, Touka: that she **_**is**_**, not that she be, ya dweeb!) Shut up, you're just a fictional character. (get Ukaku shards shoved up my ass) YEOW!**

**Without further ado – on to the story! (ouch...)**

**The demon ponders**

It had happened so suddenly. Not long after getting crêpes, Nishiki had kicked Hide into an alleyway, knocking him out.

He had then proceeded to go on about how bad the crêpes tasted and that Ken surely had been waiting to eat Hide by pretending to be his friend.

Even after the half-ghoul had denied it, he had said it didn't matter anyways, as they were in 'his' territory, so he was going to kill Ken and eat Hide for the trouble. He had then kicked the human a few times and slammed the one-eye against a wall as he did.

Though the orange-haired student seemed to get irritated when Ken had insisted that Hide was his friend, the ghoul didn't seem to believe that genuine friendship was possible with a human for a ghoul, because his sister was betrayed by her boyfriend for admitting that she was a ghoul.

"Listen here, you weak-ass punk," the older boy had said, "in this world, there is only one thing that's true – if you're not strong enough, than you get eaten, because _the strong eat the weak_. Got that?"

The last thing Ken remembered was a voice in his head screaming in rage.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

It was a really strange feeling, not intending to do anything, while your body moved and acted as if someone else was in control. Touka briefly wondered if Ken was experiencing the same thing since earlier.

She was a passenger in her own body as whatever was controlling it tried to reason with whatever had gotten into the half-ghoul.

Ken's mismatched eyes observed her curiously. "You were watching?"

Oh, _now_ he speaks Japanese. Prick.

"Don't do it," she heard herself say, slowly walking towards the older boy. Neither of them paid any attention to Nishiki, who had passed out from the pain.

Not-Ken rose an eyebrow. "Why not? He tried to eat my friend, so it's only fair that I eat him."

Touka didn't quite disagree with that logic. If someone tries to kill you, then you have every right to kill them. It's called self-defense.

"You've already punished him, and he needs medical attention."

While the young man in front of her contemplated these words, Touka was mildly surprised that she was using logic to reason with him. The girl was aware that she was more of an emotional person, often not bothering to hide what she felt and all too often getting carried away by those feelings.

"Fine."

Touka watched as the strange Rinkaku was retracted, and Ken's eye went back to normal. Then a shudder passed through his body, and she could tell just from the eyes that whatever was in control was gone.

_For now_, said a voice in her head, as she realized that she, too, had regained control of her body.

"What...just happened?"

Seriously? He doesn't remember what – on second thought, that's probably for the best right now. The wimp wouldn't believe her if she told him that _he_ was the one who trashed that shitty Nishiki. Even if he deserved it.

"Shut up and gimme a hand," she replied gruffly, making her way to the injured human, "unless you wanna carry your annoying friend back by yourself."

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

As the two young people carried Hide out, after making sure that no one could see them, they missed one person, albeit she had centuries worth of hiding experience, who observed them with an amused smirk.

"Figures you'd find him first, Kallen. Though I'll have to think of a 'punishment' for delaying his awakening."

The green-haired woman made her way out, her mind already thinking of that punishment – and her next batch of pizza.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Hide laid in a bed in one of the upper rooms of Anteiku, his injuries all wrapped in bandages. Ken himself was already healed, faster than even Touka had expected. He was sitting next to the bed, looking at his friend's sleeping face when he heard someone enter the room.

"How is your friend?" asked Yoshimura kindly.

"H-he's fine. Th-thank you for t-taking care of him," answered Ken.

The manager nodded, but as he turned to leave, Ken asked: "Do I really belong here?"

Yoshimura inquired: "What makes you say so?"

"I-I'm not really a ghoul...though I'm not human anymore either."

The half-ghoul clenched his hands hard, so that his knuckles turned white.

"Do I...belong...anywhere?" came out of his mouth, as tears began to form in his eyes.

He felt a hand on his shoulder, and he looked up to see the elderly man's kind smile.

"There's one thing I'd like to correct about that," he said.

"You are very human...as well as a true ghoul."

Ken felt his eyes widen, as the manager's words sank in. He called him human, so he could still be with Hide, and live his human life. He also called him a ghoul, so he could be with Touka, and everyone else in Anteiku.

With a shy smile, he asked: "You really think so?"

"I know it to be so."

Touka, who happened to overhear them, pushed off of the wall and made her way to her room.

She lied to the manager about Ken's fit of madness.

She said that Nishiki had wounded Ken to the point where his hunger and instinct had taken over and almost ate Hide, but she managed to snap him back to his senses with words alone, but he had blacked out and couldn't remember the ordeal.

She knew there were glaring holes in that story, but Yoshimura hadn't seen the need to ask further.

She didn't even know _why_ she didn't tell him. Or rather, why her inner-fangirl (Yoriko would have a right laugh at that) insisted the she tell as few people as necessary.

No one noticed Hide crack his eye open, before quickly closing it again.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

The next day, Yoshimura brought up a new topic.

"A...mask?" asked Ken.

"Indeed," replied the manager, "I thought it would be time that you had one of your own."

Immediately, Ken though of a very specific mask-

'Nononono, there's no way I could wear that,' he thought, 'even without being a ghoul, I'd get lynched for desecrating such an icon.' Then he caught on to something the elderly man had said.

"One of my own?" As in, others had masks, too?

Yoshimura had decided to call someone over: "Touka-chan."

"Yes?"

"On your next day off, would you mind taking Kaneki-kun to get his mask?"

After a few moments, they both turned towards the girl, whose face was neutral, the occasional twitching of her visible eye or cheek being the only hints at the battle she was fighting and losing.

"Wha-what for?" she managed to press out, denying her inner 'fangirl' the chance to celebrate spending time with Ken that she, quite frankly, would rather spend with Yoriko.

"I heard from Yomo-kun," that caught her entire attention, "that there are 'investigators' in the ward."

Where before, the fangirl had been celebrating Yoshimura's request, it was now kicking her in the proverbial ass to accept.

"Thinking of that, I decided that he would need a mask as soon as possible."

"Alright, alright!" she blurted out, before noticing the manager's raised eyebrow at this out of character reaction, and Ken's twitching mouth corner.

"What are you laughing at, stick-boy?!" To her satisfaction, the insult actually seemed to sting him a little.

"Saturday, 4.30, Shinjuku Station, east entrance!" Then, in a menacingly lower tone she added, "Be late and you're dead."

His silent nodding with a frightened expression made the rest of her day.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

'She did that on purpose, didn't she,' thought the half-ghoul, having arrived half an hour early only to get a kick to the side half an hour _after_ the appointed time by the ghoul girl. Now he was following her down some dark alleyways to get to wherever it is the people in Anteiku get their masks made.

Though that wasn't the only thing bothering him. She still won't come clean about what happened with him and Hide. The latter believed it was a car accident where she pushed the boys out of the way, but Nishiki had to go to the hospital. 'What happened to him after that, anyways?'

The manager told him the story that Touka had sold him, but even without the voice in the back of his head he knew that there was something wrong with it.

While contemplating this, he looked at her from the side, taking in her casual look.

'She _does_ look rather cute, like an ordinary girl. You'd never guess she was Ja – a ghoul,' he thought, shaking his head at the slip in his mind. Ever since the incident, there were more than strange behaviors. It was like there was this voice, telling him what to do, or what he needed to know.

'Aaand my insanity is finished, with a voice on top,' he thought dryly as they approached a set of stairs leading down.

"What?" she asked without turning, making him realize that his eyes were still trained onto her.

"N-nothing," he grunted, looking the other way.

"Then stop staring."

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

After several twists and turns, they ended up at a place called HySy ArtMask Studio.

"Here," announced Touka, sounding both bored and disinterested.

They entered after knocking, finding a large room with a black and white checkered floor and several stands with mannequins on them, though one of them was draped with a cloth. Several carnival-esque masks hung from the walls, including one painted like a clown's face.

"Uta-san, are you here?"

There were more masks in display cases around the room, though Ken's interest was piqued by the cloth.

'It still smells like a ghoul,' he decided after coming closer, 'a new project?' Out of curiosity, he lifted it to reveal-

"Boo."

"Wah!"

Startled more by Ken's cry then Uta's voice, Touka turned to find the half-ghoul facing the shopkeeper, a pierced, tattooed ghoul who wore his hair and clothes like a punk. He also always had his Kakugan activated, though she never asked why.

She tried not to laugh at Ken, who had fallen on his backside in shock. The boy noticed and tried to stand up in a dignified manner, though his flushed cheeks ruined it.

"What are you doing, Uta-san?" she finally asked, making sure she wouldn't bust her gut by accident.

"I thought I'd scare the kid," came the reply, though Uta seemed to have found something interesting on her. Before she could comment on that, though, he turned back towards Ken.

"I'm Uta. Nice to meet you."

"Uta-san here is the person who makes our masks," the female ghoul explained.

"K-Kaneki Ken. Nice to meet you." Ken held out his hand, which Uta shook, before drawing him a little closer.

"So you're the one Yoshimura-jii-san told me about?"

He then came towards the university student's neck and sniffed. Ken noticed the inked words around the other man's neck, which the voice translated to 'I cannot live with you nor without you.'

"You smell..._interesting_."

For some reason, Ken didn't feel like outright shoving the man off. Though he did feel uncomfortable that a guy was sniffing him.

"Uta-san. Stop that. You're scaring him."

Had he ever felt so thankful that Touka was there before? He wanted to say no, but somehow couldn't.

"Oh, sorry. My bad."

Uta backed away and scratched his head, leading them to a back corner of the shop.

"This guy needs a mask, right, Touka-chan?"

"Yeah, me too. We all need to be cautious."

"I heard. Seems there are some doves in the area, they even saw Renji-kun, right?"

"Y-yeah, Yoshimura-san told me that."

"Usually they leave us alone since we're so peaceful..."

'Peaceful?' wondered Ken.

"Must be Rize's fault, then..."

"Damn it, I knew that bitch meant trouble for us-"

"What do you mean, the 20th ward is 'peaceful'?" interrupted Ken, "are you comparing us to the other districts?"

"Exactly," replied Uta, "since wards 1 through 4 are uninhabitable for ghouls, and 13 is so bloody it's actually funny. Maybe if you're lucky, you can watch live cannibalism – up close," he finished, looking quite creepy in Ken's entire opinion.

Then he leaned back into a stool by a work-desk, and continued, "But 20th ward is nice...and peaceful...what with Anteiku and its huge size."

Patting the stool next to his, he said: "Come, I need to measure your head."

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Ken sat still as Uta asked him questions while measuring.

"Any allergies, to rubber, metal or...?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Would you like a full mask, or a half mask. Though a half might be a good-"

"A fu – I mean, I'll leave that to you."

"...Cute eye-patch. You like them?"

"Eh? Ah, it's because, when I'm hungry it turns on against my will."

"But you look well-fed to me."

"I, don't like taking chances."

"Okay. An eye-patch, hm...snack?"

'An eyeball?!'

"Er, no thanks."

"Okay...*munch*...Kaneki-kun, are you involved with anyone?"

"What!? Ah, no, I never have been...I think?"

"*munch*...Do you prefer them younger, or older?"

"Ah, I've, never really thought about it...actually, if our ages are close, it doesn't really matter, I'd say."

"*munch*"

"By the way, is this question related to you making my mask?"

"*swallows* Oh, yes. Learning more about my customer motivates me."

"..."

"How about Touka-chan?"

"Eh?"

"Would you take her if she wanted you to?"

"Wha-why would she want me to-"

"You're asking a guy about how he thinks a teenage girl would think."

"T-touché."

"Why not though? She's certainly cute, is quite a tough girl, and..."

"...?"

"*whisper* She loves rabbits..."

"! She does?"

'That's...kind of cute.'

**'And ironic.'**

"Mhm, and to top it all off, she's a 'hard worker'."

"? What do you mean by that?"

"Think about it. I heard Kamii is for the smart guys. She's a ghoul living like a human."

"...It must be difficult to keep up her appearance."

"Exactly. And it gets infinitely harder when you have a close, human friend."

"Just one slip and it all goes to hell in a hand-basket." He thought of Nishiki and his sister.

"It's like walking a tightrope your whole life. And if you stop, then it all disappears."

"...I wonder why she does it, even though it's so dangerous..."

"If I recall, you have a similar situation ahead of you, no?"

"!"

"Ask yourself if you would go through that and why. Because, while complete segregation is optimal...every now and then, I get a human customer, and I get excited. I can't explain it, but it makes me quite happy."

"*mumbles* 'Can't live with or without you'...huh?"

"...Did you say something?"

"What? No, just thinking."

"Well you might wanna think silently. Who knows what ears your thoughts could find otherwise."

"Understood..."

"Whelp, all done here. I'll have the mask brought to Anteiku when I'm done with it."

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

As they made their way back, Touka suddenly teased: "You seriously fell on your ass back there, didn't you?"

Scowling automatically, he replied: "He just took me by surprise, is all."

With a raised brow, she kept on: "But you were totally terrified of how he looked."

"Nope. It just creeped me out."

"Riiight."

"Hmpf! Though, he was quite nice..."

'Though why did he act so – wait.'

He stopped walking, looking at Touka.

"? What?"

'Scratch that, why are _we_ acting so familiar?! And I'm acting like a snob!' (**Author ignores Geass-death-glare, howling laughter and a sore butt**)

Trying to change the subject, he asked: "What are the masks for, anyway?"

"Huh?! You came here without even – why I oughta-!"

Breathing out her frustration, she rounded in on him: "Use your damn head a little! What do people use masks for?!"

"T-to hide their faces?"

"Yeah! Now why would _we_ need to hide our faces?!" She grabbed his collar for emphasis.

"Because...getting them seen would be bad?"

"Damn strait! Especially if it's an investigator who sees it! Care to tell me why?!"

"Be-because, um...! Because they could hunt you down whenever they want!"

"And if they figure out your 'human' identity," for this she leaned in close to him, standing on her toes until their noses almost touched, "you can kiss your life good-bye."

"...close..."

"? What?"

"I said you're too close!" he almost shouted, backing away with a red face.

It took a moment for her to register what he meant, then her faced turn even redder than his – and a whole lot angrier.

*Slap!*

**R&amp;R, please!...ow...**


	4. The demon listens

**AN: One thing that bothered me throughout TG was how some people (coughToukacough) would treat Kaneki like a complete idiot who couldn't think for himself, or at least someone who needed all of the information laid out on the silver platter, even though it is stated **_**multiple**_** times that Kamii has difficult entrance exams, which require a **_**lot**_** of studying, meaning that those attending are, if not smart, then at least learned. As you've seen, I'm fixing that here. Yes, I'm aware that it's for us readers, which is why I'm having Kaneki give the info instead.**

**I also noticed that I got the storyline a little mixed up here, the next few scenes actually happen before the mask-studio in canon.**

**Demon's Anarchy of Pride: -I'm glad you enjoyed it. And as you'll see, Uta agrees.**

**Akuma-Heika: -Good point, I couldn't see Euphie pushing the trigger in the same situation. In fact, I hope you don't mind if I use this for my other CG-fic?**

**-Either way, unlike some people I don't get but-hurt over calling them one or the other, blame D&amp;D and DxD for that.**

**-You know what, you just gave me a brilliant idea how to cover that. Thanks.**

**-Touché**

**-Yes, now ain't _that_ fucked up? All the more fitting, though, if you're caught up on the manga:**

**-You're right, Eto was revealed to have fridges full of meat, though it probably isn't a good idea for her to cook 'em.**

**-Yes, I did. You can export chapters, edit them, then replace the old versions with the new ones once you're done.**

**-Glad you enjoyed it**

**-Thanks, I'll give that a try.**

**Guest: Oh don't you worry they will. Not just yet but - They will.**

**makesomehassel****: Hope you do, you might get some ideas from Demon's Anarchy of Pride, like I did. I'll be looking forward to seeing what you make!  
**

**Without further ado – on to the story!**

**The demon listens**

'Why did I get slapped for her getting too close?'

Ken was still wondering that the next day, as he was learning how to brew coffee from the manager in the kitchen of the shop. He was doing better then he thought, almost like he was used to making it this way, instead of the instant coffee he had at home.

"Just like that, slowly, in a circle," said Yoshimura, "Tell me, have you brewed coffee before?"

"N-not, th-that I can re-remember," the half-ghoul answered nervously, afraid he might spill some of the hot water on himself or mess up the coffee.

Giving the finished drink a taste, Ken frowned a little.

"It's not quite there yet. Certainly not as good as yours, Yoshimura-san."

"Well, coffee is something one needs to put great effort in, just like people. There's no need to get impatient."

"Well then, I'm going to the front for now. Touka-chan can help you out, just ask her if you need help with something."

Silently, Ken watched the manager leave, when the old man paused.

"One important thing...'Anteiku' is not just a coffee shop, but also a gathering place for local ghouls."

Ken came up and looked past Yoshimura at the customers, subtly sniffing the air.

'They're almost all ghouls...that's a lot,' he thought.

"There's no need to be particularly on guard here. You just need to know that many ghouls frequent here."

Ken nodded, he had imagined something like this the first time he came back here after his 'surgery'.

"Of course, just like you, several of our customers are human. At those times you should also try to give your best service."

"But...with ghouls needing to hide from them, is it alright to let them in here?"

Yoshimura considered the young man before asking: "Tell me, if you had never known life as a human, what would you stand to gain from associating yourself with humans, even at our distance?"

Ken thought about it for a minute.

"I could learn how they act, mimic what they do so that I don't stand out," he finally answered.

"Indeed," replied Yoshimura, "humans are like walking text-books for a ghoul. Besides..."

Ken gave him an interested look.

"I like them...the humans."

'He likes them...how?' Ken couldn't help but wonder about that.

As the manager made to step out into the front room, he had a thought and said: "By the way, Kaneki-kun..."

The half-ghoul perked up at his name.

"If someone with a bag, or suitcase or the like comes in, tell me straight away, or ask someone to let me know if you can't come yourself."

"Why?"

"...I'll cover that later."

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Ken entered the shop area, noticed Touka mouthing him to come over. She looked slighty annoyed.

When he saw the source of that annoyance, he honestly couldn't blame her.

"Ohh, Kaneki!"

There was Hide, looking like the incident with Nishiki never happened.

"Hide? What are you doing here...?"

"I came to see you on the job! You told me about it, remember?"

Must've been before the mask shop. Touka's got a mean slap.

"Lookin' sharp in that uniform, you are!"

"Thanks, but would you please order something? I don't want to trouble the manager..."

Hide stared at him wide-eyed for a split second as Ken got out a pen and notepad.

"So uptight! Is it the suit? I heard how clothing makes a person, but this is something else!"

The look the fake blond got was both stern and troubled.

"Right, my order. Cappuccino, please! Oh, and could you get it, Touka-chan?"

Touka-chan?!

He didn't know why that bothered him as much as it did, but he knew that given the opportunity, the girl would tear his friend out for that.

"Ah, okay..."

But right as she was about to leave, Hide spoke up again.

"And thanks again for before!"

For a moment, Ken was lost about what his friend meant, when his mind went back to the cover-story the manager told him they had provided for Hide concerning Nishiki.

Something about a car accident.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

"Make sure he doesn't find out, okay?"

"Huh?"

Just as Ken was about to bring Hide his order – which Touka unsurprisingly insisted he make – the ghoul-girl said that while cleaning the counter.

"About what you are. If he does, not just you, but all of us will be in deep shit."

Ken gulped, she sounded quite serious...

"So, if he does find out..."

She turned towards him with a one-eyed glare. (Bloody peek-a-boo bangs)

"I'll kill him."

He looked afraid for a moment, before returning the glare, also one-eyed.

"What about you?"

Her visible eye widened. They both knew what/who he was talking about.

"You have the same situation, no?"

His shaking hand which held the cappuccino settled.

"So before you say something like that, be sure you can follow through it for yourself."

With that, he left her standing there, so she can think on that.

'**Coming from her, it's likely a compromise.**'

'Probably...'

'**That Nishiki person is still out there, and there might be more ghouls like Rize.**'

'...'

'**And while I don't think the regulars will try anything funny, you still might want to keep an eye on the patrons.**'

'Right, Hide is my friend.'

'**Which means we're responsible for him.**'

Ken never stopped to ask himself why he was arguing with himself.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

After their shifts ended, Yoshimura asked Ken to the staff room, where there was a plate of sandwiches on the table. And a smirking Touka nearby.

"Yoshimura-san, what's this," he asked, though he had an idea. One that upset his stomach.

"Since you're going to spend no small amount of time among other humans, I wanted to help you practice how to 'eat' around them," the elder man replied, gesturing to the food, "Why don't you go ahead and try?"

Ken assumed he would get some helpful tips once he spat the sandwich back out. Surprisingly, it didn't quite go as imagined.

Sure, it was disgusting, he barely held it in long enough to spit it into the nearby sink, but frankly, he was amazed that he managed to hold out that long. He also ignored the waitress trying half-heartedly to hide her amusement.

"Bread tastes like a sponge...lettuce smells like fresh grass...cheese is like it's spoiled..."

Now they were both laughing, Yoshimura in a subtle chuckle and Touka full out giggling.

"W-what?"

"Apologies, but I did not expect such an...interesting description."

"More like, who the fuck says that kind of shit?" mumbled Touka, albeit uselessly.

"It's actually better than the ones I had at home, after my surgery, that is."

This earned him a shocked look from the waitress, as the manager kept his face straight and asked: "Could you elaborate?"

Confused at their reactions, Ken explained: "After I got out of the hospital, no, even the food there had tasted absolutely horrible. I literally tried everything in my house, it's how I found out about the coffee preference. That was much worse than this sandwich here."

"That can't be!" interjected Touka, "Aside from coffee and water, all those human foods should be the same kind of disgusting!"

"..eh?"

"Perhaps your ghoul and human abilities have not settled themselves?" offered Yoshimura.

"Makes sense," Ken conceded, "my ears and nose have been getting sharper, so maybe it's that?"

The manager nodded in agreement, while the girl just shook her head at the nonsensical situation.

Yoshimura proceeded to show Ken how to 'drink' the food, pretending to chew. To their, and his, surprise, he reenacted it almost perfectly, one would almost miss the slight cringe in his face at the taste. The old ghoul emphasized the need to vomit the food afterwards, because it can impact a ghoul's system negatively.

"Finally," said the manager, "I have a present for you."

"? A present?"

The old ghoul presented something like a brown sugar cube.

'**That's not sugar.**'

Ken gulped as the thought passed through his head, accepting the cube.

"Using this in your coffee should take the edge off of your hunger, so you won't need to eat so frequently."

"Is this..." Ken hesitated to ask, even though he already knew the answer.

"You probably do not want to think about it."

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Ken happened to be in the now empty café when the door opened to reveal a mother and her daughter.

"Ah, welcome."

'Regulars?'

'**Probably here for 'special services'.**'

"Oh my," said the mother, "A new worker?"

"Ah, yes. My name is Kaneki Ken."

'They're ghouls...'

"I'm Fueguchi Ryouko. Here, Hinami...say hello," the woman nudged her daughter, who jolted out of whatever she was focused on.

Then the middle school aged girl hid behind her parent, peeking out at Ken.

"Well, she's still shy around strangers..."

'What a lovely mother.'

'**I'm seriously trying to not be envious.**'

'?'

"H-hello," offered the half-ghoul, thrown off by the thoughts in his head..

"...Hello..." was the weak reply.

From around the corner popped Touka, with a surprisingly pleasant experession.

"Oh! Ryouko-san, Hinami!"

"Hello there, Touka-chan."

'I've never seen her with that kind of face before.'

'**What about her friend?**'

'She looked more how I feel when Hide is around.'

'**A pain in the ass that you wouldn't trade the world for?**'

'Err, something like that.'

Should he be worried that he doesn't find this weird?

"The manager is upstairs," said Touka, "You can go on up."

As he watched the two females climb the stairs, he muttered: "Hard to believe it."

"Huh?" went the ghoul beside him, "What is?"

"Well, just looking at them, you'd never think they were ghouls," he explained himself, "What are they here for, anyways?"

"They're a bit like you – not the whole transplant bullshit, your 'food' issues."

"They don't...'hunt'?"

"More like can't, or won't."

"Huh..." he hadn't thought there were such ghouls.

'**More like, you just assumed that all ghouls are predators.**'

Ken winced, which Touka noticed.

'**For every ten ghouls like Rize, there's probably one like Fueguchi.**'

Thinking about it like that, it made sense. If there was the odd ghoul willing to hunt their own for food, then there were also those who didn't hunt, period.

'**The only ones who should hunt...**'

"...are those prepared to be hunted," he mumbled, unaware of Touka observing him.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

"You know Kaneki..."

A few days later, Ken and Hide were having lunch on campus at a table outside, when the human began to speak.

"When I came to see you in the hospital, you looked like shit."

"I-is that so?"

'Probably the food.'

Needless to say, the artificial hybrid was using this opportunity to practice 'eating' the way Yoshimura taught him. He wasn't sure, but it almost seemed easier than before.

"Now you look much better, maybe even more than before the accident!"

"I see..."

"How's your job going?"

"I'm getting used to it. My co-workers are mostly nice, too."

'Except Touka-chan.'

'**She probably needs to get used to you. Heavens know I do.**'

'...'

"...neki. Kaneki I say!"

"! What?!"

"I asked if Touka-chan has said anything about me?"

"Ah, no she hasn't."

Not likely that she will, either.

"Nagachika-kun?"

The young men turned around to see a brown-haired girl that looked distinctly familiar to Ken.

"Ah, you're Nishio-san's girlfriend, ain'tcha?"

Ah, right. He hadn't gotten a clear look at her then, but he recognized her scent from when he met the older ghoul.

Wait, girlfriend?

Retrieving something from her hand bag, she gave Hide a CD. "Here, from Nishiki-kun."

"Oh! The CD with the materials for the school festival!"

Turning to leave, she said: "I only came by to pass that on, goodbye."

"Ah, wait!" Hide called, startling her.

"Do you know where Nishio-san is hospitalized at? We'd like to go visit him, if possible!"

'**You do. I don't.**'

The woman briefly glanced back at them, before walking off brusquely.

"Ahh...was it something I said?"

'Nisho-san isn't in a hospital...'

'**Not one for humans.**'

'She came to pass the materials to us...'

'**Was she investigating us?**'

'To figure out mine and Hide's condition?'

'**Does she report to him?**'

'S**h**e **d**o**e**s**n**'t **s**m**e**ll **li**k**e** g**h**o**u**l**.**.**.**B**u**t** d**o**e**s** s**h**e **k**n**o**w **t**h**a**t **h**e **is** o**n**e**?'

"Oi, Kaneki!"

"Huh!?"

"Quit spacing out on me, man! Are you feeling okay? Had this weird face and all that..."

"D-did I now?"

"Yeah...You got work today?"

"Ah...yes, I do."

"All right. Don't overdo it."

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

"'Dove' is in 20th Ward."

"Heard Oumi got offed."

"Guy had some control-issues. But man, 20th is not that safe anymore, huh?"

Later that same day, Ken was working his shift in the shop behind the counter, idly listening to the patrons' conversations.

'This place seems to be a hot-bed of information for ghouls.'

'**There is no greater weapon, or shield, than information.**'

'These ghoul investigators are currently the most popular topic.'

'**For good reason.**'

"Kaneki-kun, good work today."

Ken looked up to see Yoshimura coming his way.

"Oh. You too, manager."

"Uta-kun tells me that your mask is coming along nicely."

"Ah, is that so?"

Ken glanced around the shop again as a thought came to him.

"Touka-chan isn't working today?"

"Indeed, her exams are about to start, so it cannot be helped. She is quite helpful, but even our pretty waitresses need a break her and there...Anyway, I've a favor to ask of you, Kaneki-kun. Are you free tonight?"

"Ah, yes...do you need me to tidy up the shop?"

"Ah, no, I'd like you to help with 'groceries'."

"'Groceries', as in..."

'**Meat.**'

"Usually I rely on Touka-chan for it, but today I'd like you to take her place."

Ken wanted to protest loudly, but instead managed only a small, unconvincing: "I, don't think I could ki—"

"Ah, no, not that. There's no need to kill anyone."

"Eh, but it's about, well, 'food', right?"

'**So no hunting. Scavenging, perhaps?**'

'Wait, as in corpses?!'

'**Would you rather kill people?**'

Yoshimura waited patiently as Ken made up his mind.

"Very well, sir. I'll do it."

"Oh, good. Thank you. I've already let Yomo-kun know."

''Yomo'-san?'

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Touka had finished her studies for the day, in a sense. At the very least, the time she allotted herself for it was up. For some strange reason though, she's been doing better at school. Perks of having an inner fangirl for some half-ghoul dipshit.

She frowned, remembering all the weird crap going on around said older boy. The worst part was, he himself didn't even seem to have a clue how to deal with it.

There was the bullshit with the sandwiches. Either those just happened to be less disgusting for him, as a former human, or his taste-buds _had_ been that of a ghoul, but were going back to how they were. The former option was already enviable, the latter downright disconcerting.

Then there were this shifts in character. Personally, she blamed the not-Ken who trashed Nishiki for that. Sometimes he'd totally act like she expected him to, other times he seemed...jaded. Scarred. _Twisted_.

Then she remembered that today was 'grocery' day, and headed downstairs to the manager.

"Oh, that. You don't need to worry," he reassured her, "I asked Kaneki-kun to do it today."

"Him? You think he's gonna be fine?"

"At the very least, it will be an experience for him, no?"

'_Yeah, dicing up suicide victims and stuffing 'em in a bag. Sounds like he'll have a _blast.'

T-the fuck!?

"Er, yeah, sure. I gotta go to bed, see ya tomorrow, Yoshimura-san!"

As she left her ears caught him mumbling: "I wonder what's got her so worried..."

Once she was alone in the confines of her room, she barked: "Okay, what the flying _fuck_ are you?!"

'_Think whacha wanna say, girl. People'll think you've gone bonkers._'

Touka threw herself onto her bed. (Softly, of course. She didn't want to pay for a new frame.)

'I've got a fucking _voice in my head_! And it's talking back, incase ya ain't noticed!'

'_Well, seeing as how I _am_ the voice in your head, I'd be pretty dumb not to notice._'

She buried her head in her pillow.

'Again, what the fuck are you, and where did you fucking come from!'

'_Not that I'm one to talk, but for a virgin your pretty damn appreciative of that word, is there something going on?_'

'Wha—No! And if there was, wouldn't you be there to notice?!'

'_Would I? You ain't got no idea where I came from, anyways._'

'grr'

'_But don't worry hun, I'll answer your questions best I can. And _truthfully_ even, unlike that guy..._'

'? What guy?'

'_{sigh} Okay, first off – you were born with me._'

'...Are you pulling my fucking leg?'

'_There's that word again...Alright, let me rephrase that –_

You_ used to be _me_._'

'Now who belongs in the loony bin?'

'_Still you, either way._'

'Fuck!'

'_Get your history book – yes that one._'

Following the voices instructions, Touka opened up to a section on the founding of the United States of Japan – or rather, the second founding, if you count the one made after the SAZ Massacre.

'_See the red-head?_'

'...Kouzuki Kallen...?'

'_Nice to meet you._'

Poor girl just plain passed out, unwittingly taking the reincarnated ace with her to dreamland.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

**So both Lelouch and Kallen have made contact with their respective new selves, though I hope you like how I did that. I'm thinking of ambling along with my other projects, don't know if you've already seen them. If not, feel free to check out my profile page.**

**Read &amp; Review, please!**


End file.
